San Diego homeless band together amid killing spree

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

San Diego homeless band together amid killing spree

Elliot Spagat, Associated Press
Updated 5:31 pm, Thursday, July 7, 2016


SAN DIEGO (AP) — Ron Shatto normally sleeps under a tarp stretched over two shopping carts, but on Wednesday night he joined other transients in a small camp and never closed his eyes.

"I don't want to wake up on fire," said Shatto, 51, who has been living in the streets since February 2015, most recently under a freeway bridge.

San Diego's homeless population was on edge Thursday after a spate of early-morning attacks on men who were sleeping alone and, in two cases, were set on fire. Police believe the same man committed four attacks since Sunday, which killed two and left two others severely injured.

The region's homeless population — an estimated 10,000 people — is banding together at night to avoid giving the suspect another opportunity.






Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/4-attacks-2-deadly-on-San-Diego-homeless-8345122.php

[inanna]

1. Thanks for posting, Judy.

[Skittles]

2. as if they don't have enough problems

[romanic]

3. Saw this on ABC earlier.

Very scary.

[inanna]

4. UPDATE: Man arrested in attacks on San Diego homeless that killed 2

Updated 9:06 pm, Thursday, July 7, 2016

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Police on Thursday arrested a man on suspicion of murder and other charges in attacks on four homeless men in four days in San Diego. The attacks left two men dead and two seriously injured.

Anthony Alexander Padgett, 36, was taken into custody in the morning and after a day of questioning will be booked as the sole suspect in all four attacks.

San Diego Police Capt. David Nisleit said a tip led investigators to Padgett, who lives in Chula Vista in the San Diego area. He gave no further details on the man or the tip that led to him.

Link: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/4-attacks-2-deadly-on-San-Diego-homeless-8345122.php

[Judi Lynn]

5. So glad to see your article! Surely hope this is the guy who did it.

Here's a page I found, looking for his photo, after reading your information:

Police make arrest in homeless attacks case


By: City News Service , 10News Digital Team

Posted: 5:22 PM, Jul 7, 2016

Updated: 36 mins ago



SAN DIEGO - A suspect was arrested Thursday in connection with a four-day spree of violence that killed two homeless men and critically injured two others in various San Diego neighborhoods.

Anthony Alexander Padgett, 36, was taken into custody in the area of Broadway and H Street in Chula Vista late Thursday morning in connection with the spate of violence, during which two of the victims were set on fire, according to San Diego police.

. . .

10News learned Padgett was arrested in 2010 in Chula Vista on suspicion of setting a transient on fire as he slept.

According to the South Bay based newspaper The Star-News, Padgett was sentenced in 2010 to four years in prison for the incident.

More:
http://www.10news.com/news/source-person-of-interest-questioned-in-homeless-attacks-case-070716

So this guy has done the same thing earlier. That's an ugly pattern, isn't it?

[Eugene]

6. San Diego's homeless people still on guard despite capture of suspected killer

Source: The Guardian

San Diego's homeless people still on guard despite capture of suspected killer

Arrest of Anthony Alexander Padgett doesn’t erase anxiety and fear of
violence many who live on the streets face – ‘it comes with the territory’

Rory Carroll in San Diego, California
Friday 8 July 2016 18.29 BST

The alleged killer was in custody, his horrific rampage against them apparently over, but San Diego’s homeless residents did not relax as they bedded down for another night on the streets.

A mortal peril neutralised? Great. They were relieved. But other potential threats – the guy with the crowbar, the guy with the razor blade, the guy who screamed and ranted – remained.

So they kept one eye open on Thursday night, as they do every night.

“We live out here. We’re scared shitless. What else are we going to say?” said Rayonna, 39, a self-described “street mother”, as shadows stretched across her corner of Union Street. “There’s a constant threat. Random acts of violence. All of a sudden a person, your neighbour, can flip. It’s the drugs. It’s just insane.”

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/08/san-diego-homeless-killing-suspect-capture-anxiety

[Judi Lynn]

7. Suspect in San Diego homeless killings had violent history

Suspect in San Diego homeless killings had violent history

ELLIOT SPAGAT and JULIE WATSON

July 8, 2016

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A man accused of a spate of deadly attacks on San Diego homeless men who were asleep and in some cases set on fire committed a nearly identical crime six years ago.

Anthony Alexander Padgett, 36, now jailed on suspicion of murder, admitted lighting a sleeping man on fire in a supermarket parking lot in January 2010 in the San Diego suburb of National City.

In a two-page handwritten note to a judge, Padgett blamed the influence of drugs — saying he was "super stoned and intoxicated plus using my prescribed medications" — and that he only intended to scare the victim, whom he knew.

"My intention ... was that he see the fire burning next to him and wake up and be angry at me, thus awakening himself from his nap. I did not hurt him purposely or willingly. I was negligent and made the mistake of walking a few feet away from him and started thinking + looking at something else for a few seconds!"

More:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/suspect-arrested-attacks-san-diego-homeless-population-081010108.html?nhp=1

[center] [/center]

[Night Watchman]

8. Closer to 20,000 Homeless Here

But the Chamber of Commerce doesn't want you to know that.